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03 November 2016

Team Sports Builds Character / postmortem reveals Pats fullback was misdiagnosed, died of repeated brain smashing / career choice$$$, not Genetic Disease of Doom

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Kevin Turner (left) was a Patriots fullback from 1992-94; he also played five more years with Philadelphia.jim davis/globe staff file

By Bob HohlerGlobe Staff

Thursday 3 November 2016

Former Patriot Kevin Turner died from CTE, not ALS

Former Patriots running back Kevin Turner lived the
last six years of his life believing he was dying from amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, or ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

In fact, Turner, who died in March at
age 46, spent his excruciating final years stricken with a severe case
of football-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which
caused a motor neuron disease similar to ALS, researchers at Boston
University announced Thursday.

“This is not ALS;
this is CTE,’’ Dr. Ann McKee, the director of BU’s CTE Center, said at a
news conference attended by Turner’s parents and the families of other
former National Football League players who were diagnosed with CTE
after their deaths.

McKee
said former Boston College linebacker Ron Perryman, who died in 2011 at
age 42, also was incorrectly diagnosed with ALS before a postmortem
autopsy of his brain confirmed he had developed a motor neuron disease
similar to Turner’s because of CTE.

Turner’s father, Raymond, cited the findings as evidence that the NFL needs to do more to protect its players from brain damage.

“It’s a big-money thing, I realize that,’’ Raymond Turner said. “But they can make it safer.’’

The
CTE Center has diagnosed the disease in 91 deceased football players
(CTE can only be diagnosed through postmortem brain autopsies). McKee
said 17 of those players who were believed to have died of ALS instead
were killed by CTE, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes with a
history of repetitive brain injuries.